offset the drift

What is the exact meaning of "to offset the drift" in the following passage?

The King made a public appearance accompanied by the Queen and the royal children and mingled with reporters. The idea was to offset the drift of the Prime Minister announcement about the King’s departure.

It should be added the King was about to leave the country because of a revolution and the Prime Minister was happy with this departure. In fact, he was an old enemy of the King.

Thanks very much.

Solution 1:

Compare this usage of drift to the Merriam-Webster entries 3a and b for drift:

: a general underlying design or tendency

perceiving the drift of the government's policies

b : the underlying meaning, import, or purport of what is spoken or written

the drift of a conversation

When a conversation, a policy, or some other utterance (including an announcement) has a drift, that drift refers to a general meaning or purpose behind what's being said. While the turn of phrase is a bit unusual, offsetting the drift would involve working against the meaning or purpose of the announcement.

In your quote, the king works against the underlying meaning of the Prime Minister's announcement of his departure by sticking around a while longer. Perhaps the king is trying to signal that he moves at his own pace and not by command.

I hope you catch my drift!